Close to 40% of our members are up for renewal in the month of September. We encourage those members to renew early, beat the rush, and make sure your membership does not expire. This article will show you how to tell when your membership is up for renewal. It will also show you how to renew your NARS membership online.
When is My Membership Due for Renewal?
Looking up my Membership Status
You can visit the following page to see when your membership is up for renewal: https://www.n1fd.org/member-directory/.Scroll to the 2nd table on the page, titled Membership Roster and Status, put your callsign in the search box, and hit return. As you can see above, I have looked up my membership status and I see that my membership is expiring in September 2021.
Renewal Form
How to Renew Your Membership
To renew your membership, the first step is to log in to N1FD.org. Once you are logged in, you can fill out the membership renewal form on the following page: https://www.n1fd.org/renew-your-membership/. At the end of the form, you will be asked to pay your membership fee using PayPal.
We have multiple membership renewal options to choose from if you qualify, with the following yearly fees. Make sure you take advantage of a discounted rate if you qualify:
Regular Membership: $31
Senior Membership (Age 65 or over): $26
Full-Time Student: $26
Family Membership: $46
Field Day 2019 Team
Your membership allows you to participate in all of our activities including:
The Nashua Area Radio Society is sponsoring a QSO party on September 26 and 27. The goal is to get people on the air. We feel this contest has something for everyone. You can earn points using any mode (except repeaters) you like using any bands you like (except the WARC bands). If your new to contesting that’s fine too. I urge you to give it a try. The exchange is easy and this should be an easy and low-stress introduction to contesting.
A note on digital modes. CQ Worldwide RTTY is held the same weekend. If RTTY is your thing or you want to try it out this is a great opportunity!
Mackenzie KE1NZY operating DX SSB
The rules can be found below.
NARS QSO Party
Object: To contact as many amateur radio operators in as many states, provinces and dx entities as possible
Who: You don’t have to be a Nashua Area Radio Society Member. Everyone is invited to participate!
Date: September 26 0000z to 2359z September 27 2020
Categories: Multi-Multi not permitted. Power categories are accounted for in the multiplier section of the rules.
Exchange: W/VE: RST+State/Province DX: RST+ DX
Valid Contacts: Work each station once per band and mode.
QSO Points: phone QSO=1pt, digital and cw=2pts.
Multipliers: Each US State, Canadian Province, and every Dx Entity is a multiplier.
Power Multiplier: Stations not indicating power level within their log will be scored as operating with greater than 100 watts (>100 watts). Greater than 100 watts (> 100 watts) , total score x 1, 100 or less (<=100), total score x2, 5 watts or less (<=5 watts), total score x3.
Scoring: Final score= total QSO points x power multiplier.
Electronic entries only and should include a complete Cabrillo format log and claimed score. If your software does not provide that option, include a summary file in plain text format. This QSO party was designed for ease of scoring. If you choose Deleware QSO Party in N1MM or your favorite contest software it will compute your score for you. Logs should indicate time in UTC, bands, modes, calls, and complete exchange.
Certificates will be awarded to the top 3 stations and the top score will also receive a 2020 ARRL Handbook. Good Luck I hope to get you in my log!
At the end of April this year I wrote an article about my experience with the New England QSO Party. The event took place in May 2019. At the time, my station at my NH QTH was IC-7300, 500 Watts, and EFHW antenna at 50 feet. When I received the certificate from the NEQP it was for second place in Carroll County, NH, and I got a big kick out of it. I examined the details of the event and learned more about my competition. I found out that there was a total of 4 entries from Carroll County and only two of us were in the HP category. This means that I also came-in the last place for High Power! Still, I had fun and a certificate, so no complaints. It also prompted me to enter the 2020 NEQP as Low Power, which would give me a chance to come in first in that category for Carroll County.
Checking on results from other contests
Not all contests will send you your results. I expect the big guns who finish at the top may hear something, but not every contest will let each minor award winner know about it. A fellow ham sent me this link to use to check on results from ARRL events.
https://contests.arrl.org/certificates.php
Enter your call and you will get a list of PDFs suitable for printing or framing. Any that you earned a certificate for as well as any multi-operator stations you have participated with. Be sure to also enter any of your ex-calls. I found 2 certificates that I did not know about!
ARRL Certificate SearchARRL Certificates
When I entered these ARRL contests my goal was to make QSOs and then import them into my QRZ log. I did not really participate at a serious level and probably spent less than 10 hours on each one. I wanted my contacts to count for the other participants, so I logged with N1MM+ and submitted the logs as if I was in it to win it. When I entered the 2019 CQ World-Wide DX Contest SSB, I decided to give it more effort and operated for 15.2 hours out of 40 hours available.
Rookie Contesting
Many contests have an option for operators who have their licenses for under 3 years to enter with a Rookie Overlay. I highly recommend that any hams who qualify for this do it. In addition to competing against all the entrants in the contest, your score will also be ranked against just Rookies. Competing against highly experienced operators with advanced contest stations is tough and there are many that are in that class. Entering as a Rookie may give you a chance to compete against other operators who match your skills and equipment. You can set the option in the contest set up in N1MM.
Rookie Overlay
I Raised my Antenna for Better Performance
The 2019 CQ World-Wide DX Contest SSB was held in October. I obtained spousal approval to put in more time on this one than any other contests I worked. I was operating from my NH QTH with my IC-7300 and 500 Watts of power. My 8010 EFHW antenna was installed at 50 feet. My previous experience with the antenna was OK and I made many QSOs with it. When I tried in the contest environment, it was not meeting my expectations. I could not break into pileups reliably. On 80 meters, I was only able to make QSOs out to around 1500 miles. I decided to take the end of the antenna down from the tree at 50 feet and use my new Bigshot Slingshot Throwline Launcher to raise the end as much as possible. I wrote about this in an article I posted on the NARS website. It took me around an hour to raise the antenna to 70 feet and it made a BIG difference! All bands showed noticeable improvement with 80 meters being the most dramatic. My first QSO on 80 was to Ukraine, over 4000 miles away.
NH QTH Topography
My QTH in Mirror Lake, NH is located close to the top of a long ridge. The land falls off sharply from 80 to 100 feet within a half-mile or less to the NE to SW. It falls off less sharply for most of the rest of the compass points. The arrow points to my antenna and how it is oriented below.
NH QTH Topographic Map
I am not sure precisely how much this added elevation adds to the apparent height of my antenna, but I’m pretty sure it makes it seem like it is even higher than the 70 feet it is up in the tree. Additionally, the ground under the antenna is moist and mineral-rich and should be better than the average ground.
My Results!
Raw Score
Here is my raw score from N1MM for the contest. I only had 301 QSOs, but many multipliers, and that really boosted the score. The contest organizers sent me an email a few months after the contest. They asked me to provide details about when I was first licensed. I replied to them with my info and a screenshot of my ULS listing. After that, I just forgot about it. Once I learned about checking on results with the ARRL link, I decided to check and see how I did in the 2019 CQ World-Wide DX Contest SSB contest.
CQ DX WW SSB lookup
I saw there was a Cert available, so something was good. I downloaded the certificate and found out I did way better than come in second out of two entrants in my small county. Here is how I did:
CQ WW DX Contest Results
I printed this certificate, suitable for framing!
Certificate of Merit
I was thrilled to see this and am very motivated to give maximum effort for the upcoming 2020 contest. Now I plan to upgrade to a HEX Beam or Spider Beam for my NH QTH. If the location worked so well with an EFHW antenna I can only imagine how well it will work with a Yagi. If I add more time in the chair and operate for closer to the maximum allowable time, I should be able to improve on this result dramatically.
Try Rookie Contesting
I would have been quite happy with my results scored without the Rookie Contesting Overlay but having a competitive result as a Rookie is very motivating and satisfying. My three years as a Rookie last until the end of the year so I intend on entering a few more contests while I can. If you qualify as a Rookie, you should try this out.
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